Outcome BGD_D_1.5

By 2026 more Rohingya and host community women and girls are empowered by gender responsive enabling environment, to exercise their agency and decision-making with improved access to protection, education, and socio-economic opportunities.

This result was partially achieved in 2024. Against increased insecurities, gender-based violence (GBV) incidents, and the arrival of tens of thousands of Rohingya fleeing the armed conflict in Myanmar, the self-mobilization of Rohingya women to assert their rights and leadership demonstrated the most progress. Continued prioritization by the interim Government of non-integration and repatriation, barring Rohingya from pursuit of formal work and maintaining dependency on declining aid, heightened stress and risks for exploitation and abuse, especially among women. Amid men’s forced recruitment, Rohingya women exercised agency and leadership, many assuming sole responsibility for their families, some organizing into groups to protect their camps from violent groups. High numbers of women pursued protection and empowerment services, despite mobility restrictions. Altogether 5,772 Rohingya women and men accessed standardized vocational training, introduced in 2024. However, whereas 52 per cent (3,600) of trainees comprised women, showing the hope they place in furthering their skills, the proportion of women earning an income remained low among the refugees at only 8 per cent of the total. Addressing the critical lack of essential literacy and numeracy skills among adults, 2024 saw the introduction of Accelerated Adult Learning in the camps. Contributing to these results, the 53 UN Women supported Rohingya Gender Volunteers adopted expanded roles, monitoring gendered insecurities, accompanying women and girls to essential services and providing psychosocial support, reaching 51,566 Rohingya women and men and facilitating 5,652 service referrals in six camps. Services provided at the eight UN Women supported Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres (MPWCs) in the camps and in host community locations enhanced the resilience and empowerment of 120,524 women and girls in 2024 (Rohingya: 97,591; host community: 22,933), with 25,745 Rohingya women (24,925) and girls (820) seeking psychosocial counselling and other protection services at the MPWCs. Aligned with the 2023 Thematic Evaluation recommendations, inter-sector commitments to localization and the UN Women Sustainability Plan developed in 2024, UN Women transitioned five MPWCs operated prior by BRAC and Oxfam to partnerships established with local WROs, Rights of Women Welfare Society (RWWS), and Jago Nari Unnayon Sangstha (JNUS) in consortium with Samaj Kalayan O Unnayon Shangstha (SKUS). ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) continued to operate 3 MPWCs and assisted the localization process through hosting GBV case management and AAL trainings for the new partners. Support by UN Women resulted in 1,213 women (Rohingya: 345, including 32 gender-diverse persons; host community: 868) enhancing their earning abilities by completing livelihoods trainings, inspiring 1,483 women (Rohingya: 1,173 Rohingya; host community: 310) to initiate income-generating activities that yielded an average monthly income of BDT 2,500. A total of 100 Rohingya women and 76 host community women completed foundational literacy and numeracy courses, enhancing their resilience and earning capacity. Final reports of UN Women partners, Oxfam and BRAC, demonstrated increased income generation among 5,070 women (Rohingya: 3,020; host community: 2,050) and greater community acceptance of gender equal roles. Under the WPHF, the resilience of 34,329 Rohingya and host community women was enhanced. The 2024 External Review recognized the relevance and value of UN Women supported leadership initiatives, recommending to develop and scale out a strategy on women’s leadership building on the collaborative approach pursued by UN Women with its partners Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh Nari Pragati Sangha (BNPS), and Research, Training and Management International (RTMI), addressing leadership, GBV, peacebuilding and social cohesion as interconnected issues. Funding for the Joint Response Plan declined by 85.5 million USD in 2024 compared to 2023. UN Women support contributed to increased visibility of refugee- and women-led solutions as an effective means to ensure longer term sustainability of the response, and to access gender analysis, and enhanced capacities of WROs and humanitarian actors. A significant result- the six Rohingya community-based organizations supported through the partnership with RTMI developed and implemented their own strategies and workplans, reaching 2,772 community members through their activities.

By 2026 more women and girls are empowered by gender responsive enabling environment, to exercise their agency and decision-making with improved access to protection, education, and socio-economic opportunities.

There has been significant progress towards this outcome. Women and girls from both the Rohingya and host community demonstrated enhanced agency, decision making and ability to access socio-economic opportunities. This was even more significant considering the refugee crisis, now protracted, is well in its sixth year, with a deterioration of the security situation in the camps in 2023. This in turn led to an increase in serious protection incidents in the refugee camps and related restrictions on the mobility of women and girls. Income-generation opportunities for the Rohingya refugee community remain limited. Against this backdrop, UN Women and its partners facilitated women and girls’ access to essential gender-responsive services, support, and information (gender-based violence [GBV], leadership, livelihoods skills development, education, through the Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres (MPWCs) managed by UN Women’s partners ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB), BRAC and Oxfam. In 2023, 119,555 women and girls in the refugee camps and host community (Rohingya: 88,434; host community: 31,122) enhanced their knowledge of gender equality and ability to promote women’s rights. Of these, 1,864 women (Rohingya: 232; host: 1,632) started income generation activities, with an average monthly income of BDT 3,906 (USD 36) through producing and selling handmade products. They were part of a cohort of 4,721 women (Rohingya: 3,511; host: 1,210), including 20 gender-diverse persons), who participated in livelihoods related trainings. In the refugee camps and host communities of Teknaf, Ukhiya, and Cox’s Bazar Sadar, 510 women participated in Second Chance Education (SCE) activities, including literacy, numeracy, and basic computer literacy; of which 72 women successfully graduated from the programme. More than 98,037 Rohingya community members (45,610 women and girls; 52,427 men and boys) increased their awareness of gender equality and women’s rights, and services and opportunities available to women and girls. This was facilitated through household visits, group sessions, and outreach activities conducted by UN Women’s 56 Gender Volunteers (46% women; 54% men). In 2023, 528 women leaders known as the ‘ Maitree Apa ' (Rohingya: 180; host: 348) demonstrated enhanced leadership to promote social cohesion and mitigate/mediate GBV in their communities. Altogether, Maitree Apas mediated and resolved 85 per cent of the GBV incidents that came to their attention in their communities (681 out of 797), referring the remaining 42 cases to relevant authorities or service providers, with support from UN Women’s partner Ain O Salish Kendra. Access to services and opportunities was supported through improved field-level coordination to address service gaps and awareness-raising efforts at various levels, including government and humanitarian actors. Furthermore, accountability of humanitarian actors to mainstream gender across the humanitarian response was ensured through their participation and engagement in the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group. As a result, gender equality considerations were integrated across the 2024 Joint Response Plan and its project appeals. UN Women also ensured the inclusion of women’s empowerment and gender equality perspectives in the work of the Livelihoods and Skills Development Sector, Protection Sector and the GBV Sub-Sector (GBV-SS) of which UN Women is an active member. In support of the localization agenda, UN Women continued to promote the role of women-led organizations (WLOs) and women’s rights organizations (WROs) in the response, training 36 representatives (34 women; 2 men) of WLOs/WROs on leadership skills and on feminist leadership principles in collaboration with the GBV-SS, and training 10 WLOs/WROs on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, results-based management, and programme management principles. The theory of change remains the same for this outcome. Key lessons learnt include the critical and urgent need for integrated programming across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, according to the humanitarian response thematic evaluation . The Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres in Cox’s Bazar have emerged as a scalable solution for integrated services across the nexus, acting as service points for strengthened empowerment, resilience, protection, and leadership. UN Women must continue to implement and develop longer-term nexus programming that is adaptable to future risks, addresses the root causes of gender inequalities, and promotes social cohesion. In this regard, investment in local capacities to stay and deliver is a must. Livelihood training empowers the Rohingya women and girls This multi-sector consultation has had a profound impact on every woman entrepreneur in Cox's Bazar Dialogue between Rohingya and host community on social cohesion

By 2026 more women and girls are empowered by gender responsive enabling environment, to exercise their agency and decision-making with improved access to protection, education, and socio-economic opportunities.

There has been progress against this outcome in 2022. Coordinated efforts of humanitarian actors, and dedicated support to women and girls’ access to services, in the Rohingya Refugee camps and host communities, have improved despite continued challenges of restrictive, patriarchal gender norms, and government restrictions. In 2022, UN Women supported Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres (MPWCs), partners’ centres, and outreach interventions continued to ensure women and girls’ access to essential gender-responsive services and referrals, livelihoods assistance, and life-saving information. More than 132,164 Rohingya refugees (35,549 men, 24,230 adolescent boys, 44,022 women, 28,363 adolescent girls, and 1,505 persons with disabilities) have increased awareness of intimate partner violence, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), human trafficking, prevention of child marriage, polygamy, domestic violence, and gender-based violence as a result of participating in awareness-raising sessions organized by UN Women's Gender Field Officers (GFOs); Rohingya community volunteers; and at eight MPWCs (5 in camps and 3 in host communities) managed by UN Women’s partners - ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB), BRAC, and Oxfam. In 2022, 935 women (264 Rohingya, 671 host community) of Teknaf, Ukhiya, and Cox’s Bazar Sadar participated in Second Chance Education (SCE) activities, including literacy, numeracy, and basic computer skills. In total, 72 women and girls successfully graduated from the SCE programme. UN Women's support enabled around 2,400 women from camps and host communities to develop livelihoods skills and engage in income generation activities (IGAs), contributing to enhanced quality of life and economic empowerment. Specifically, these women improved their skills on handicrafts (including batik, block printing and embroidery), and online marketing. Among them, 384 host community women went on to produce and sell their handmade products in the local markets, leveraging the trainings and market linkages supported by UN Women’s partnerships with DanChurchAid (DCA), RDRS Bangladesh, Women Entrepreneur Association of Bangladesh (WEAB) and Oxfam. UN Women contributed directly to these results through capacity building opportunities, activities and services provided by its responsible parties through the MPWCs in the camps and host community. In support of the localization agenda, UN Women has further bolstered its empowerment of Rohingya refugees, through dedicated support to partner organizations, GFOs, and community based Rohingya volunteers. UN Women’s five GFOs and 60 volunteers played a critical role throughout the year in supporting women's access to essential services by facilitating case referrals to gender-based violence (GBV), protection, health, shelter, and WASH, among others. In total, the GFOs and volunteers received 5,386 cases and referred all cases to relevant service providers. The role of Rohingya and host community women in promoting social cohesion, mitigating GBV cases was further strengthened through UN Women’s support of ‘ Maitree Apas ’ (women leaders engaged in promoting social cohesion) to lobby and lead dialogues with local government officials, Assistant Camp in Charges, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA), and Majhis (community leaders) on women's rights issues. This took place through UN Women's partnership with Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), which continued to build up capacities of Rohingya and host community women and women leaders, training and coaching 19 women's groups (11 groups in host communities and 8 in the camps) comprising 380 women leaders, including 57 Maitree Apas , to lead and engage in humanitarian actions. With their strengthened skills and capacity to support community women and girls, Maitree Apas were able to receive 118 complaints (56 from camps and 62 from host communities), which they were then able to refer to MoWCA and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST). Through their referral support and mediation, over 75% of complaints were addressed and solved. Taken together, the activities of UN Women’s GFOs and volunteers as well as the partner agency, ASK, reached roughly 7,400 women and adolescent girls from both the host communities and camps. As Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG) co-chair (with UNHCR), UN Women played a key role in ensuring a coherent and coordinated response to gender equality and women's empowerment issues across the Rohingya refugee response sectors, mobilizing the GiHA WG to secure technical advisory support to the Gender with Age Marker (GAM) review process, spearheading joint analyses, and coordinating with the GBV-Sub Sector to ensure common messages, advocacy and campaigning in the context of International Women's Day and 16 Days of Activism. The GiHA WG continued to function as a critical platform, actively engaging and training 1,024 members of the humanitarian community in 2022 to implement gender mainstreaming in their activities. UN Women's coordination and technical advisory support to the GiHA WG directly contributed to ensuring gender considerations are addressed across all 2023 Joint Response Plan (JRP) proposals, and to strengthened capacities of humanitarian actors on gender mainstreaming on the integration of gender perspectives in program design, with 170 humanitarian actors representing all 11 sectors of the refugee response trained by UN Women personnel on the application of the GAM. Awareness of critical gender equality issues in the workplace across the Rohingya refugee response was enhanced through the UN Women led "Rapid Survey on Gender Equality in the Workplace" capturing the perceptions and experiences of personnel involved in the humanitarian response. This survey was coordinated by a UN Women led Task Force comprising key GiHA member agencies, UNHCR, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Save the Children, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), the Young Women Leaders (YWL) Network, Start Fund Bangladesh, and Islamic Relief Bangladesh. The GiHA WG members, especially the GiHA WG JRP GAM Peer Review Team members, the Gender Equality at Workplace Rapid Assessment Task Team, and 16 Days of Activism Organization Committee members, co-chaired by UN Women, played a critical role in achieving these results. The Theory of Change of this outcome remains relevant. As demonstrated above, significant results have been achieved through the various interventions supported by UN Women under this outcome, enhancing women's access to opportunities, essential services and support, and engagement and awareness raising related to women's concerns and interests, participation and leadership in the Rohingya refugee response. Through UN Women's contributions, the number of women and adolescent girls benefitting from livelihoods training and income generating support; graduating from the SCE program increased further in 2022; and a significant number of GBV incidents were solved and/or referred through the efforts of GFOs, volunteers, and community women leaders and with the relevant sectors’ support. As a lesson learned, UN Women will enhance collection of segregated data for person with disabilities benefitting from its programmatic interventions, as a step toward ensuring that the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities factor into program activities and support. One of the main challenges identified and shared by UN Women’s partner, ASK, remains the lack of support for women's leadership within the community, including from their husbands and family. The lack of dedicated interventions to engage men and boys, including husbands and sons, to raise their awareness of gender equality issues, is a major cause for concern for Maitree Apas . To address this, designing future programming on women's leadership with targeted interventions focused on engaging men and boys is recommended.